London: Multiple Arrests After Street Fight Ends in Three Stabbings

London
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Victoria Friedman

Seven people have been arrested and three others rushed to hospital with stab wounds after a brawl broke out at a tram stop in Croydon, south London.

The Metropolitan Police were called to the Gravel Hill tram stop at one o’clock Wednesday afternoon in response to calls of a violent brawl, reports The Mirror.

A spokesman for Scotland Yard said in a statement, “Police were called at around 12.50hrs on Wednesday, 30 January to reports of a fight involving a large group of males near Gravel Hill tram stop in Croydon.

“Officers attended along with the London Ambulance Service.

“Three males suffered suspected stab injuries. They have been taken to hospital and we await an update on their conditions.

“Seven suspects were arrested near the scene on suspicion of GBH [grievous bodily harm] and taken to a south London police station.”

On Tuesday evening, three males — aged 16, 17, and 18 — were arrested in connection with the murder of a 17-year-old male in Islington, inner London.

Police officers and London Ambulance Service attended to reports of an assault in Caledonian Road at 6:49 pm and found the teen, later identified as Nedim Bilgin, suffering stab injuries. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Nedim had allegedly been stabbed in the chest following an altercation with two other youths just yards from his home, according to the Evening Standard, with witnesses claiming he had been stabbed with a “Rambo” knife after he refused to hand over his bicycle.

One witness said, “I heard that he was coming out of Ladbrokes and two teenagers tried to rob him from his bike. He resisted and they stabbed him. His father was here earlier. He was shouting, ‘my son, my son.’”

His father, Nusret, told the London newspaper, “He was a wonderful boy we are devastated. He went out on his bike and never came home.

“We don’t know whether they were stealing his bike or what. That’s what someone said. We were told a car pulled up and they stabbed him. We have no idea why. He was just minding his own business. He was a good boy.”

The teen was the eighth person — and second minor — to have been murdered in the capital this year, with London ringing in the New Year with two murders.

By the end of 2018, 132 people were murdered in the capital — the highest figure in a decade.

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